admin
MOSCOW. – A major Syrian opposition group that has gained international recognition would not participate in the Moscow-backed Geneva-2 peace conference on Syria, the group’s leader told RIA Novosti yesterday. “Nothing useful will come out for Syrians from attending the meeting,” George Sabra of the Syrian National Council said.
“The decision (not to participate) was made yesterday by the general secretariat [of the council],” Sabra said by telephone from France. The Geneva-2 talks were proposed by Moscow and Washington as a means of putting the Syrian government and the insurgency behind the negotiating table in hopes of ending the 2 1/2-year-long civil strife in the Middle Eastern country.
Sabra said his group bailed out due to the lackluster international response to the consequences of the Syrian war, among which he listed mass slaughter of civilians, food shortage and, recently, the use of chemical weapons. The Istanbul-based Syrian National Council will decide on its further strategy after consultations with Syrians on the ground, including the Free Syrian Army rebel force, Sabra said.
The Syrian National Council, formed in 2011 as an opposition government in exile, won limited diplomatic recognition from a number of countries, including France, UK and the United States. — RIA Novosti.
Online Reporter